Sins of Insanity
by SilverPedals1402
Summary: When taken to an odd land by some psycho woman who managed to kidnap team iron man and one other, they are put to the test to decision and survival skills. Each one must face their own challenge and survive it to get free, but what if this woman had other plans for a special someone? A special someone who might just need her to live. -Rating may change
1. Chapter 1

**Well, i got this idea a while ago, and its been eating at me to see what you guys think of it. So i posted a little preview/prologue. I'm not going to update this as fast as day at a bank, but it will be updated if you guys would like it to be. Its very short, the chapter, but don't worry, i plan on having longer chapters in the future if you guys would like more. I really hate that i'm posting so much stories, and i tried to keep this back for a couple days (not long) and i guess its been bugging me. (i did this on my kindle...) So please read and tell me what you think.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own a single thing of IMAA.  
**

* * *

Tony's friends always wondered why Tony tried so hard to keep his identity a secret. They understood that having his identity known was dangerous, giving villains the chance to attack him whenever and where ever. Though they couldn't understand why he still stressed over his identity being found out even when there was no threat to the secret. But Tony did have a reason. If his enemies found out, he wouldn't be the only one targeted. He wouldn't be the only one hurt and attacked. His friends an family would be in constant danger. Villains would find a way to somehow use them against him. It was easy really. All they had to do was threaten to kill or hurt them and Tony would give into anything.

So that how they got in this situation. The situation where not only him, but his dad and Pepper and Rhodey, were kidnapped. Stuck in a floating cage. Waiting. Just waiting, for the crazy lady to return. Said crazy woman was an insane blond mutant.

A blond mutant who wore not much more than a white leotard that showed half the woman's back, and the front had elegant gold designs on it that looked so natural and pretty anyone, even the woman's enemies, would fall in love with. She had high heels that looked awfully painful, but beautiful. They were gold. On her right leg she had a navy blue dragon tattoo, that wrapped around her whole leg from the ankle up. She had a black belt with a gold insignia in the center around her waist at an angle. Her hair pulled up in a bun.

The scary thing was, was her eyes. Pretty, yes, but natural, no. Her eyes not only had loads of black eyeliner and blue mascara, but looked like a cats eye. There were orange one the outside and black cat like pupils. She had sparkly black eye shadow, and her skin was as pale as paper, making the ruby red lipstick stick out.

So maybe she was pretty. Maybe she was really good at acting. But one thing for sure that Tony knew, was that she was insane. Completely out of her mind. Seriously she started to laugh when her one and only servant Dana, fell into a endless pit. That's right endless.

In fact, they weren't even on Earth. No they weren't on Mars or Venus, but they certainly weren't on earth. The sky was purple and the grass was blue! It just wasn't natural. Even when she gave them a looked at the one lake on the place, the water was green! The moon was red, and who knows what color the sun is. Pink? Black? Rainbow?

Even the animals were out of place. Three eyed bunny rabbit, no tailed snake with two heads connected, tiger looking like things with claws as long as the average human hand and eyes everywhere across its body, there was even a odd looking money with six arms, four eyes, and a head on its back.

It was a bit disturbing.

She claimed to have to attend to business elsewhere, so she couldn't deal with her current kidnapping. So they were stuck in a seemingly timeless place with all sorts of odd stuff.

Funny thing was: the fact that hair turned to a red glowing color when she was petting another odd dog thing. Then it change to purple when she was laughing at the girl she constantly called Dana. It went white she she was calming speaking to them and pink when she mistakes an insult for a compliment.

The most disturbing this was when she had first threatened Tony. Saying she could kill his family with just a snap to her fingers. She proved it with a old man at the park. Though every word that came out of her mouth that wasn't a threat, was a simple flirt. The kind of flirt most people would love to hear. It only sent chills down Tony's back.

So there they were sitting in the floating cage, unable to speak unless 'she' was in the room. Being unable to speak was creepy enough. So when they cannot move and they knew she could see them, but they couldn't see her, they could hardly breath just at the sound of creaking metal as 'she' stepped on the bizarre mechanical leaves.

Their own heads turned. It was distressing how she did that. Made them move in her own accord. "Welcome," she started a voice so soft. "To the land of dread and insanity."

**Is it worth more chapters? Is it worth working on when i have free time? Please be honest with me. Just so you know, the story wont all be in this form, this type, kinda like saying facts, the rest will probably be closer to what i normally write, _if _i continue this. This is just a short preview sort of like a foreshadow, (opposite of a flashback) so if you want more, please Review?  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry, i wasn't meaning to update this one so soon, but i thought, hey you know what, I should get this out there just to get it out there. It was almost done anyways, so i finished it. And right now i'm really iffy on the whole subject, because i have no idea how you guys will react to it...but i know where i'm heading, so don't worry about that. This chapter is set before the first chapter so you know.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own a single thing of IMAA. NOTHING!  
**

Sunday. It was Sunday. Nothing special. Well, it would be a regular Sunday if it wasn't raining out. The rain hadn't stopped for three days straight. Tony would know. He had been awake for days on end. Not because he was stuck in the lab working on something as it usually was. No, this time it was different. It was like he couldn't fall asleep. He was tired, but he wasn't falling asleep. He hadn't thought about it at the time.

At first he thought that it was insomnia or something along those lines, something that kept him awake at night, but when he collapsed in the middle of his lab, he knew something was wrong. He knew that what ever it was, it wasn't insomnia or something else. It was something much more serious. Which was why he didn't tell his friends or even his dad. It was a bit personal, and he thought he'd find out what it was before he worried everyone. Mainly it was passing out at the oddest times, but so far he only passed out when he was alone at night, except that one day when he was with his dad. His dad thought nothing of it for the time being.

At times, he would get a bloody nose almost at random. There was the time his eyes started to bleed, like tears, but that's hasn't happened since he first got the symptoms. This was going one for weeks. His latest 'attack' was two days ago. It was when he was hanging out with his friends when he got the bloody nose again, bit this time he started to cough up blood. His friends only saw him coughing with a bloody nose, but it was more than just a bloody nose. It was really starting to worry him.

So he sneaked off to see Dr. Yinsen. To see if he could help. When they met up he explained everything. From passing out to bloody noses, to blood eye to coughing up blooding. Even to choking on air. Yinsen, had no idea what it was. About four doctors looked at him finding nothing to diagnose him with. They went as far to taking blood tests to bladder tests to x-rays. Two of the tests showed that nothing was wrong with him. The blood test still needed to settle.

So it being a Sunday he was allowed to lay down. He felt like a wilting flower. (Not that he knows what it felt like.) He feels as if hes slowly fading away. He wondered if his friends noticed. They only saw the one 'attack'. He saw it in Roberta's eyes when she walked by him that morning at Rhodey's house, Tony slept over, that she saw that he wasn't well. But he also saw understanding. He could trust her not to say anything.

If his friends knew anything they didn't know the half of it. He could understand enough that they saw he was...distancing himself. He didn't hang out with them on the weekends as much as he usually did. He would normally find them a good place to hang out or they would go to the movies. Now Tony stayed at home doing who knows what.

He laid in his bed waiting. Waiting for the phone call with the results to come in. Part of him didn't want to know the results. He didn't want to answer and find out he's going to dye or something. That he has poison in his systems, or that he's slowly fading away, in his own word play. Though he wanted to know if he was dying, if he was poisoned. He wanted to know if he was going to wilt away like a flower. Slowly fading, each day getting weaker and weaker until someone steps on him and he would just crumble.

He wasn't sure what word to use to describe what he was feeling. He could say he was frightened for what would happen, but that wasn't the right word. Sure he was frightened for what might happen, but that wasn't the word he was looking for. Maybe he was anxious. No that still wasn't it. _Apprehensive._ That was it. He was apprehensive, uneasy.

He jumped when his phone rang and reached out with one arm to where the phone lay on the side of his desk. "Hello?"

"Tony, this you?" The sound of his doctors voice rang through his ears.

"Uh huh." He said tiredly, yawning. It was only noon.

That was another 'symptom'. He was always tired. He got sent to the office more than once for falling asleep in class. It was horrible when he got 'attacks' at school. It was scary when he passed out at school. The scary thing was that he could feel it coming too. He would feel lightheaded and dizzy and his vision would dip and he would see as if the person closest to him was miles away or centimeters away. It was frightening to know he was going to pass out so he would have to rush to find some place to sit. That happened once and he was lucky he passed as tired.

"It was clean, the blood test. We ran multiple tests on it and we came up empty."

Now he really didn't know what to feel. Was he still apprehensive? Or was he truly frightened. He was hoping for a better answer. He wanted to know why this happened out of the blue. Out of nowhere. It had to be something. There had to be something out there that he had.

"Nothing?" He asked unbelievably.

"Nothing," Yinsen repeated. "But I'm sure there's something else we could look at. Maybe do an MRI, see if its a brain thing or get you a heart rate pacer to see how your heart is beating..."

Tony thought of his options. He could leave it be and possibly get worse, worry his friends, and just be dug into a deep hole. He might as well dig his own grave if he did that. Then he could try. He could give himself the chance to get healthy. Even when there was no hope to dwell on. Even when the only thing he could hold onto was trust. Trust that someone could help.

"Okay, lets do it."

"So I have an opening in two days. Just hold on and try to get some good rest Tony, get some food in yourself too, you looked a bit skinny the last time I saw you."

Tony nodded. "I'll try."

"Promise?" Yinsen questioned. "Tony, your friends need you."

"I promise."

"Two days, 2:45, you may have to leave school early."

"That will be okay."

Their phone call ended just like that. They set up a solid appointment for Tuesday at 2:45 PM.

Tony sighed and set the phone back down on his bedside table. He was tired enough to fall asleep then and there. He was tired enough to fall asleep standing like a horse in the middle of a plane runway. He could fall asleep anywhere, but he knew he shouldn't. He should be trying to handle the situation instead of giving in to it. So if he ate, drank, walked around more, maybe he wouldn't pass out so often.

So he groaned as he sat up. That was another thing. His ribs hurt like a truck hit them and they sunk in. He felt as if he carried the world on his shoulder. He felt so, crushed. He licked his dry lips as he stood up. He sighed again with his eyes closed as he stood up. He tried to appear as strong as he could. To seem as if nothing was wrong. He hoped he pulled it off enough.

He looked to the clock before placing his hand on the door knob to his bedroom. _12:54 PM_. His dad would be home soon. To give a time, 1:30, not exactly, but close. Maybe a few minutes sooner or later. It just depended on his dads mood and the traffic. He twisted the doorknob and stepped out of his room listening to the quick ticking sound of the clock that hung above the sofa in the living room.

His room was across from the bathroom, beside the living room, and next to a guest bedroom. A lot of people had expected the two geniuses to buy a mansion for a home, but the two didn't want a mansion, or at least Tony didn't. He had requested they bought a normal house like Rhodey's. Though theirs was a bit more, lighter colored. Anyone could see the kitchen from the living room and the dining room as well. It was a split level house, so the people living in the home could see the upstairs from the down stairs easily from the living room.

He always loved the house. It was small, but spacy. It didn't crowd, but it certainly didn't have too much space that they had multiple free rooms. Tony had his lab down stairs that he shared with his father and only used on certain occasions.

He made his way to the kitchen and looked to the clock again. _12:58 PM_. It amazed him how much time it took him just to get from his room to the kitchen when he was thinking hard. He could find tons of things to think of now days. He had plenty of time for that to.

Forcefully clearing his mind of his current thoughts, he started to make himself a bowl of cereal. When he was seated and ready to eat he allowed himself more time to think. He ended up picking at his food taking small bites at a time. He lost himself in his thoughts. Pretty much as he always did.

He remembered the first time he had the 'attack'.

_(Flashback)_

_Merely 20 minutes after a fight in New York, Tony was fixing up his armor. It was getting dark out and Rhodey was lounged on the console chair, stretching. "Man, I can't see how you stay up so late." _

"_Force of habit I guess." Tony replied shutting off his power tool. _

_Pepper who was in the corner reading a book while laying on her stomach, looked over. "Its really unhealthy. You do know that right? My cousin tried staying up for a week straight, she ended up falling asleep and falling down a flight of stairs. She was in the hospital after that, and I know how you hate the hospital."_

_She was referencing to how she hasn't seen Tony get any sleep what-so-ever in the past three days. She had begun to worry. _

"_I'll be fine, if that's what your wondering. I've gone much longer than a week without rest, so I'm sure three days won't kill me." Tony said heading to his computer. _

_He was going back and forth from power tools to the armor and system upgrades for the war machine armor. They had worried about him more when he paused in the middle of the room looking a bit dazed. _

"_You okay, man?" Rhodey said getting off his lounging spot. _

_He walked over to Tony. Tony blinked. "Huh?" He looked to Rhodey. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just got a headache." _

"_Oh I know!" Pepper squawked from her corner. She had dug around in her bag and took out a pill. "For your headache." She said shoving her hand forward into his when he walked over to her, curious. _

_He simply took the pill and returned to his work. His friends said goodbye for the night. It was only a Saturday, but they had to go to bed sometime. So he told them he'd get some rest and it took a few minutes for him to start actually getting tired. _

_He was curious at first. He hadn't been able to sleep. He hadn't bee able to close his eyes for two minutes without the strong urge to open them and get a move on with stuff. Though he was even more curious when he felt lightheaded and clouded. He was just befuddled when he started to see double, and as if everything was a mile away. _

_He had felt as if he was free falling and he flung himself to the side to the wall. He sunk down unsure what to think, well in fact he couldn't think. He couldn't think of anything else that wasn't the cold chill that ran down his spine as his entire vision fell and he saw nothing. _

_He woke up a few hours later, not sure at first what happened. But when he was walking home in the dark, someone stopped him giving him a small tissue. Tony curious to why he was getting passed a tissue questioned this. The woman who stopped him, simply said he had a bloody nose and she wiped it off for him. She had blond hair, she had creepy golden orange colored eyes. _

_(End of flashback)_

She had been so odd. He couldn't place why he thought as much. She had only stopped him to clean up the bloody nose he hadn't noticed. She was being nice. He couldn't really remember much that happened after that, it was really a blur except for the highlights, like the fact that it happened only a couple weeks ago, and he's passed out about five times, got seven bloody noses, and coughed up blood twice. The biggest highlight, was that he hadn't had anything worse than a bloody nose in front of his friends. Though he did pass out once when his dad was talking to him... That had been hard to explain.

Something that wasn't necessarily the slamming of a door, but yet it was, brought him out of his thoughts and memory. He looked up from his bowl to find his dad setting down a bag.

"What's in the bag dad?" He called out as strong as he could.

"Some popcorn, I was thinking we could watch a movie tonight." Howard replied with an easy smile. "You can invite your friends."

"I'm fine." Tony called back.

"Come on, don't you think you've fooled me."

Tony almost dropped his spoon as he chocked on his spoon of cereal. "What?"

"I know you're avoiding them."

"I'm not avoiding them."

"If you weren't then I would've walked in to a cheerful house with three teens instead of just my son." Howard said walking in the kitchen talking a seat across from Tony. "I'm not going to ask, but I will ask, if you can please spend more time with them."

Tony simply nodded and put his cereal away with out finishing it. He didn't know what that was all about. His dad never came home all cheery wanting to see a movie, with popcorn. Though he always asked what was going on with Rhodey and Pepper. He always got the same answer. 'nothing.'

…

He was walking to Rhodey's house to hang out then they'd go see the movie if they were up to it later. He had almost fallen asleep and forgot that he was planning on going to see Rhodey's like his father requested so many times.

Just close enough to see Rhodey's house, Tony felt a hand on his shoulder. Stopping him from moving any farther. He turned around to see who it was, to see the woman again. The blond woman. She was holding a tissue. She smiled and laughed lightly.

"Your nose, its bleeding again," she said with amusement. "We've got to stop meeting like this young one."

"Young one?"

She laughed. "Compared to me, you are very young."

"But," he said confused. "You look like your only in your 20's."

"That's only what I appear as my dear boy."

Then he felt it. He felt dizzy and lightheaded and his vision blurred again. He wanted to say something, like he needed space or help, or something, but he couldn't. It was like his lungs locked up, disallowing sound to escape.

He felt arms around him. Then he heard the snake-like whispers. "Sleep, my child, sleep."

…

Rhodey sat at the couch watching, no listening to the TV with his mom. Pepper was over actually. She was doing her homework in the corner.

He was thinking about Tony. Tony who always loved to spend every minute of Sundays hanging out. Now he was 'too tired' to do even that. Rhodey was worried. No he was more troubled than worried. He really didn't know what to feel. His best friend was distancing himself. Why, though? Rhodey remembered the time Tony had that bloody nose. Right after he had a coughing fit. He hadn't been able to ask him about it because he was gone before he was finished coughing.

What really bugged him was the look in Tony's eyes. They weren't glassy or distanced, but tired and worn out. He had dark shadows under his eyes. Tony left school much earlier than usual and he didn't even have head phones in to listen to police reports. It was...strange how he was acting lately.

There was a knock at his door. He raised his eyebrows and looked to his mom wondering if she was expecting a guest today. She just shrugged and got up to see who it was.

Rhodey looked to Pepper who had the same curious look to her. She closed her book. "I'll finish later."

There was shocked gasp at the door way, and the two found their way to the door to where Roberta stood halfway in and halfway out of the house. They looked around her to see Tony. He had a bloody nose again. There was a woman with very blond hair supporting him up. Rhodey without much of a warning stepped forward taking Tony and wrapping an arm around him and supporting him up himself.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I was offering him a tissue for his bloody nose when he passed out." The woman explained. "He was just over there I'd assume he was going here since your the only house on the block pretty much that I can see."

"Thank you..." Roberta said unsure what to call her.

"Just call me Claire."

"Thank you Claire." Roberta said with a warm smile.

Rhodey didn't know why, but he didn't trust Claire. He didn't think she was being honest. Something seemed off...but he couldn't quite place it.

**So i tried my best, and i think i did pretty well. Tell me if theres something your curious about or unsure of, so i can clear it out for you. I know what your thinking, you want Tony to tell his friends already, but don't you worry. I already plan on that. (oops, did i spoil something?) This story is very well planned out, so i think it would go fast, if i was going to regularly update this, which i'm not... **

**Okay, i'm not going to have time to write tomorrow, cause its homecoming night tomorrow, and i'm going to be at the school then at the football game, just out of town. But, hopefully i'll get more time. And i don't know if you guys noticed, but i've updated a bit more now. No i havent gotten a laptop yet, but i'm close to affording it. REAL close, just waiting on christmas i think, but yeah, i've been getting a good amount of computer time this week, and hopefully it will stay like this for a while. SO Please review, and bye!  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I know or i noticed that in the last chapter i said it was raining...well pretend that didn't happen. Cause halfway through the chapter, i had forgot that i had it rain, and i couldn't change it at the time, and i just figured it was easier just to tell you guys that it was an accident. Just ignore it okay? And I am working on my other stories, just that I want to get this story on its feet and up and running. Just so you know, i'm not abandoning or forgetting the other stories don't worry!  
**

**I don't own anything, and well you already knew that...  
**

Rhodey set Tony down on the couch after Roberta turned off the Television. He rinsed the blood that had flowed from his nose off. He didn't really know if he should be mad or upset. He settled with both. Mad because Tony wasn't telling him anything about what was going on. Sad because the pain it was to see Tony in such a weak state. It was painful just to see that it wasn't just a one time thing.

Roberta left the living room to get a wet washcloth to put on Tony's forehead when she felt his forehead. He clearly had a fever. She only had to place it over his forehead for a second to feel he was burning up. When she returned with a yellow washcloth that was damp, she folded it before lightly putting it on his forehead.

"James, tell me what is going on?" She asked looking up to her son. "I saw that he wasn't well, but I didn't know it was this serious."

Rhodey shrugged near speechless. "I don't know! He didn't say anything to us. He had the bloody nose before, but that's all I know."

Roberta sighed. Tony was a puzzle to her. It took a lot just to find answers from him. It was like he had a billion barriers covering up every tiny answer for him. He hid things even he didn't know sometimes. She only wished he would tell them these things. It would be healthier not only for him, but for everyone around him.

"What do we do?" Pepper asked.

"We could trust him to come to his senses and tell us, but if he doesn't anytime soon, we could confront him about it." Rhodey suggested.

"Sounds like a good plan."

There was a moment of silence until there was a groaning sound and they all turned to face their fallen friend. His eyes were open and they seemed to have dulled in color. "Tony?" Pepper choked out worriedly.

They all stared as he sat up. He looked around with a _very _confused face. "What the..."

"Your at my house." Rhodey mentioned waving his hand.

"Right, I was heading here..." Tony said.

There was a pause as Tony's eyes widened. "Where'd she go!?"

"Who?" The three others in the room asked.

"The woman, uh...she-"

"Claire?" Pepper suggested.

"Who?"

Tony looked honestly confused. He didn't even look like he remembered anything, but they knew better when he said he was heading here and that there was a woman that was clearly Claire.

"Claire, the woman who was helping you before you passed out."

"Oh right...her."

"Why?"

Tony scratched his neck. "She was calling me 'young one'."

"And that's a bad thing?" Rhodey questioned.

"No, but she said she was older than she appeared, you saw her right?" They nodded. "Then when I was passing out, she said something like 'sleep, my child', then something else, I cant remember."

Rhodey narrowed his eyes. So he wasn't the only one who found her odd. "She said she was helping you with your bloody nose when you passed out."

"Where is she?" Tony asked looking around tiredly.

"Um...she left." Pepper said. "It's not like we could keep her here."

"I know..."

Again there was the silence. Tony was just baffled how weird everything seemed. Even his friends seemed off. He was starting to get suspicious. Suspicious that they knew. He swallowed the lump in his throat trying to look anywhere other than his friends eyes.

"Tony," Roberta said accusingly. "What are you not telling us."

"What?"

"Don't play stupid, man." Rhodey pressed. "Tell us."

Tony eyed each and everyone of his friends with a look that clearly gave him away. Guilt. He sighed. "Fine...But,"

"But what Tony?" Pepper asked, clearly upset with the hidden secret.

"My dad, he should know too." He finished.

His friends nodded in understanding. They knew the smart play was to involve Howard in all of this. And a good plan to have it told once, so nothing was left out for any of the people being told.

So they helped Tony up from his spot on the couch. He had started to cough violently and Rhodey had to hold him up. After a few moments, he stopped and pulled his arm back and looked at it cautiously. Rhodey could feel the instant sigh of relief. He was about to ask about it, but thought otherwise when he remembered that Tony was going to tell his story.

With no questions asked, they hopped in Roberta's car, and drove, ready and set to go to Tony's house. About half way there, Tony spoke up. Breaking the silence. "Do you guys want to watch a movie with me and my dad? He...told me to invite you guys."

He yawned as he waited for an answer. "We'll see how you're feeling when the time comes." Rhodey answered. Pepper nodded in agreement.

The rest of the ride was quiet.

…

Howard sat drinking a late cup of coffee. He missed his morning one before he went to work, he hated those days. He was always tiredly and restlessly wondering around the office or the lab when he didn't have coffee in the morning.

He didn't know what to do at the moment so he pulled out the half of the newspaper he never got to finish earlier. He sat in the dining room where his son was when he got home. He knew his son was distancing himself, but it didn't look all that intentional. It looked more like they were growing apart, but still getting stronger. It was hard to explain.

He was turning the page of the newspaper, when he heard the sound of the door opening and closing. Lowering the newspaper and setting down his cup of coffee, he looked over. He got up and walked over to the four that were at the door.

"Roberta, James, Pepper, its nice to see you guys here." He smiled. "Tony hasn't invited you two here in a while, I was starting to worry."

Pepper tried to smile, but she couldn't. Her mind was stuck like glue on the whole scene that happened at Rhodey's house. She wasn't about to let Tony off the hook for not telling her. For lying to them. Well, not exactly lying, but still, telling them he was fine, when he certainly didn't look fine, wasn't okay.

Rhodey only forced a smile. "Glad to finally be here. I've only been here a few times."

Howard frowned seeing Peppers dark face. "Something wrong?"

Roberta put a comforting hand on Peppers shoulder. "She's just upset about something. I came along because Tony has a story to tell us. Something he wasn't telling us."

"I didn't know how!" Tony defended, giving a light cough.

Howard looked completely taken by surprise. "Oh, please then, lets go sit."

He led them all to the living room where There was a two small couches and recliner chair, pale colored. Tony stayed behind checking something on his phone before he took the seat at the chair. Pepper was the closest to him on the nearest couch. She sat next to Rhodey who sat next to Howard and Roberta was alone on the second couch.

They all looked to Tony. When they all looked over, he looked honestly uncomfortable. His face wasn't red, it was flushed of color. He was sitting on one of his ankles, biting his lip. Unsure how to start.

"What is it, son?" His father pressed, his eyes narrowed in worry.

He opened his mouth to start, but nothing came out. Not a single sound. He could hear his heartbeat. For some reason he didn't feel it was beating right. Though, he couldn't tell if it was too fast or too slow. Too fast, he settled. He was starting to feel light headed. He shook his head, lightly hitting it with his hands.

His friends watched with increasing worry.

"Lets start with what happened earlier." Pepper said tired of the silence.

"Right," Tony said nodding. "Um...I was walking, to uh, Rhodey's house. A woman-"

"Claire." Rhodey cut in.

"Claire," Tony fixed himself. "Stopped me, wanting to help. To help with a bloody nose. But, I uh...passed out..." He paused unsure what happened next or at least how to say it.

"Claire, brought him to my house," Rhodey continued. "saying that she was helping him, he woke up a few minutes later."

"Yeah, but before that she told me, 'Sleep, my child' then something else...that was before I passed out." Tony said nodding his head randomly.

"That is all we know, now what is the full story?" Rhodey added.

"It started about a couple weeks ago, after the city was under attack, Remember?"

His friends all nodded. "Well, I was fixing up the armor, when I passed out. I went home, and Claire was there,"

"Here?" Howard asked shocked.

Tony shook his head. "No, on the way home. She stopped me much like she did today. She helped me with a bloody nose and I was heading home."

"So you saw her more than once?"

"Yeah," Tony said. "So after that day I was getting random bloody noses and black outs, coughing up blood... So I went to Dr. Yinsen-"

"You actually went to the doctor?" Pepper asked surprised.

"Well, I hadn't thought about it until, I figured I should at least try before I give up. For you guys."

Pepper smiled slightly. "I'm proud."

"So I took tests, and they found nothing. I have another appointment tuesday at 2:45."

"Do you know what their doing?" His father asked.

"MRI and some kind of heart pacer." Tony replied, then he sighed. "I know I should've told you...but I didn't know how to. I still don't. I though maybe I would find out what was wrong before I said anything. But, its been getting worse."

It was true. He passed out that much more. Instead of only happening the day after the one before, it was getting close to being daily. He was getting more tired and exhausted. Even with the worsening symptoms, he wasn't ready to give up. His friends and family knowing, just made the hope to get through it all, that much stronger.

His father watched as his son tiredly ran a hand through his hair. He was worried for his son. He wished he could do something for him. He wished he could help somehow.

"I'm going to go to the store," Tony declared. "I want to get something."

Pepper eyed him worriedly. "You sure? What if you pass out again?"

"I'll wake up. Anyways, it only happened once every other day. Actually its been three days since I passed out last. Today was the first in three days. I'm sure I'll be fine." Tony replied simply.

Tony closed his eyes as he stood up, clearing some quick nausea that occasionally pops up. He went to the door after grabbing a couple dollars that were on a table and exited the house. Pepper ran after him after deciding to go with him.

…

Passing by the park Tony saw a wave of gold. It was was the golden blond hair of Claire who sat on the park bench. He narrowed his eyes as he walked past her, she had a not so innocent looking smirk on her face. It was almost as if she was satisfied with something.

"Pep." He said as he got dizzy. He swerved and almost collapsed, but Pepper caught him and supported him up.

She looked to where he was looking to. She too saw that Claire seemed to be watching them. She actually seemed to be observing them. Then when she saw the smirk, she just about had it with her. She may have helped Tony with his bloody noses, but she was suspicious. Tony saw he twice, no three times. So she made sure her grip was sturdy around Tony's waist and made her way towards the woman.

"Oh hey guys!" Claire said with a smile. "I didn't expect to see you this soon."

"Who are you?" Pepper demanded.

"Claire, why?" She sounded so innocent.

"You have something to do with this don't you?" Pepper asked gesturing to Tony who looked like he was about to pass out, but he also looked as if he was fighting it.

"I don't know what you mean." Claire said her smile faded.

"This! The...the passing out! The bloody noses!"

Pepper felt Tony try to stand up on his own, but he slipped and she almost dropped him.

"See?" Pepper demanded of Claire.

"I do." Claire said.

There was a sudden and cold wind. Pepper started to feel dizzy and sleepy. She fell forward only to drop Tony, but he was caught by Claire.

Her eyes shut as she watched Claire drag a weakened Tony deeper into the park. Then she saw nothing...

**The ending was a surprise to me at first...but i knew i had to have it at a park to follow what was said in a previous chapter... and now you can sorta see that the story is almost on its feet! Almost there, then we'll get the the 'strange land' again as we were in the first chapter, and when that happens, things, like my other stories will balance out. just you wait! Well i'm gonna go! Maybe i will update Day at the bank.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay so thanks for sticking around for this long...I got a bit off track last chapter, i personally think i could've done better...So to make up for it, i tried a bit harder on this one...probably won't change much, its just a hard story to write is all. This next chapter is pretty dark i guess in relating to what i usually write, so please don't hate me.  
**

**Another thing is that my letter 'u' key is being really dumb, so i really have to pay attention to spots cause sometimes it doesn't work so if there is any words looking really weird to you than just add a u in there somewhere...It will help. It doesn't go all the time and i sorta have to force it...so there you have it...  
**

**Two more things, I can't remember if i had/was going to have Pepper and Tony already together or not, even after reading the first three chapters again. So jst imagine that they arent together yet...and the other thing was that i don't think i had them taken _at _the park, only that the old man was killed there. so yeah, if i said otherwise...i lied.  
**

**Never said they got...taken... in the park did I? Cause if I did, they don't...i lied, sorry.**

Still a bit groggy, Tony felt a little bit more sturdy on feet. So he used his heels to try and stop Claire from dragging him off. She won. He fought against her, he tried to get back to Pepper. But failed miserably. He felt horrible. Aside from the feeling of passing out in any point of time now, he felt horrible for being so weak. He was strong. He was brave. He was _alive _and not dead or dying. He should at least be able to stop a woman from making him look so weak. So vulnerable.

She finally stopped and dropped Tony, who almost fell to his knees. Though he was able to hold himself up for the time being.

"She's right you know. This is all me." She said with a smirk. "Everything. The doctors won't be able to help you either. Not even me. No one can help. Its a permanent deal."

"Did I do something I should know about?" Tony asked.

"Not that I know of." Claire said. "I just get a kick out of misery."

"What do you want?"

Claire walked around him and eyed him as if surveying if he was good enough for something. He couldn't tell if he was winning this debate or not. It was hard to tell what this woman was thinking. From what he's seen so far she was out of her mind insane. She was crazy.

"I can kill your family Tony." She said. "I can with a simple snap of my fingers."

She stopped in front of him and put a finger under his chin and lifted. "Keep your head up my cutie."

"What am I to you? First apparently I'm you child, no I'm your...cutie?"

She shrugged. "Depends. Yesterday I saw you as a weak innocent child, now I can see that your actually more cute and strong than weak."

"So your moody."

"You underestimate me." She simply stated. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I wasn't lying about being able to kill your family with the snap of my fingers. - here I'll show you."

She snapped her fingers and there was a grunting sound and a scream. Tony looked over to see at a park bench about 20 feet away an old man had fallen to the ground with an old woman crouched down next to him. Tony's jaw dropped.

"What did you do?"

"He's dead. Or he will be." Claire said watching her work. "Just like your family will be if you guys don't complete a simple challenge. See I go from place to place looking for the highest in intelligence from this planet and getting them to do a challenge if they succeed, they go home. If they fail...well lets just say they won't be going home."

"Why would I do this? And did you say 'you _guys_'? I'm not letting you use my friends."

"Its either that, or they all die while you live and suffer in more ways than one."

Tony clenched his teeth together not wanting to give in. Not wanting to give it all up. Then his mind rewinded like a movie player to not long ago to something Claire had said. She had told him that there was no cure. There was no healing him. What ever it was that she did to him, it was permanent. It wasn't about to go away. Then he shook his head stubbornly. '_You'll be fine Tony._' He scolded himself.

He couldn't let go of hope just yet. He hadn't even gone to get the MRI done. That could help in a major break through to finding a cure. A cure that supposedly didn't exist. He'd show Claire. He'd show her that there was a way. There was a cure. He just needed to find it.

"There is no cure." Claire snapped. "Don't you get it? There's no getting better. There. Is. No. Cure. Tony, pay attention to reality. This is real life. Deal with it, its for your health, my dear."

"If there's no turning back, then what's the point of doing this 'obstacle' if I can't even stay awake long enough to finish it?" Tony questioned.

"I can't undo what I have done, but I can hold it back." Claire said tracing a finger down Tony's jaw.

Tony pulled away from her touch. "Will you knock that off?"

She just laughed. "Lets not be rude with each other, my dear. We will see each other again. I will get my way with things. I always do Tony."

"So how are we supposed to do this...obstacle thing?"

"You'll see." Claire begun to walk off in to the distance before raising her hand as if she was about to clap them, and twisted her body slightly to look back at him. "Oh and Tony? You must remember it has to get worse before it gets better."

* * *

There was a pressure on her shoulder and she pushed at it to go away. She felt it again and pushed it away again. When suddenly it started to shove her roughly to the ground, she shouted: "Knock it off dad!"

There was a laugh. She opened her eyes and glared at whoever it was. As soon as she recognized who it was, she relaxed and laughed for being so rude. "Sorry Tony."

"Trust me, I'm worse with Rhodey." Tony said. "C'mon we have to get back."

"Didn't you want to go to the store?" Pepper asked.

"No." Tony said. "I had to test a theory of mine."

Pepper blinked before she remembered what had happened before she passed out. "Claire."

Tony nodded. She stood up and brushed off some grass that clung to the material of her cloths. They started to walk towards home again.

Pepper as they walked started to think some things out. She needed time. She needed some time to clear her mind. Though she couldn't pull her mind from Tony. Ever since she found out about his condition, she was starting to pay more attention to Tony. Physically and emotionally.

Emotionally she could see he was distancing himself. Almost as if to become as broken off to them like the the seeds blown away from a sunflower. He was just fading. Not her he wasn't, but he seemed to try his best to become a fly on the wall. He hasn't gone out as iron man in such a long time. She couldn't stand to see him like this.

Physically, she could see what ever was happening to him on the inside was definitely affecting his physically. She hasn't really seen much, but what she has seen, its really messing him up. He's less on guard, he doesn't seem as interested in his inventions as he was not so long ago. She see now that he was in constant pain, only he hid it from his friends.

The sound of a door slamming and the ding that always rang after walking through some of the more old fashioned stores, brought Pepper out of her thoughts. She looked over to see Tony missing from her side. She stopped and looked to where the door had slammed and walked through the doors.

"Tony?" She called.

"Miss, he went that way." A woman working the counter said pointing.

Pepper nodded her thanks and after pushing some hair out of her face, she made her way to the direction she was pointing. Though only to be a bit disappointed to find it was a men's bathroom. So she sat down on a nearby bench and stirred her fingers in a bowl of beads, and she waited.

…

Tony rushed his way into the tiny two stalled bathroom of a thrift store with one of his hands covering his mouth and nose and the other clutching his chest. His breath hitched and wavered and his vision dipped. He placed a hand on the sink he was at and leaned against it while trying his best to focus on his reflection. It was blurry, but it was hard to mistake the red that cluttered around his nose and now his mouth.

Blinking harshly, he looked around still holding his balance on the sink and grabbed some paper towels and used them to wipe up some of the blood. Tony tossed them away and made a choking sound before coughing and spitting up more blood. Splattering the sink with blood. Trying his best not to do so again, he grabbed even more paper towels and started wipe up his mess.

The door opened and a man walked in. He looked a little bit younger than his father, and he had brown hair with gray eyes. The man paused as he saw the condition Tony was in. "Dude, are...are you alright?"

Tony stopped what he was doing and covered his mouth and turned around. "wha... oh yeah, I'll be fine."

"Dude, you bleeding!" The man said. "Here, lemme help."

Tony still a bit dazed could hardly see, let alone refuse help, stood their with his eyes practically crossed as the man wet down some paper towels and started to rub at the blood. Tony had started to cough and wouldn't stop. He fell to his knees now feeling almost like a dead man walking. Or at least as if his was hit by a train.

Still despite all the blood and mess, the man stood at Tony's side holding him up. Again, the man helped him clean up. Soon enough the worst was over and Tony could finally breath without choking or coughing and he was able to stand up without the support of the man he found out was named Matt.

So after everything was cleaned up the two stood in a sort of awkward silence. "So...you gonna be alright?" Matt asked looking to the garbage now filled with bloody paper towels.

"Yeah I'll be fi-"

Tony stopped mid-sentence and clutched at his heart again. He gasped and his mouth hung open ajar in shock. He fell to his knee's with a scream and the lights suddenly flickered. Before Matt could even get to him, Tony's eyes closed and he went limp.

That was when the door burst open with a slam.

**So it was a bit darker than i had intended, but really if you look at some of the other fanfics like this, you'll see that mine is pretty much a candy land compared to them...bt still, i'm sorry if it ever gets too dark, but really this is new to me.. One more thing to apologize for, I keep forgetting things that went on in my stories, and for most of them i'm have a serious blank on what i had put down for them...So if theres something i put in that wasn't even there in a previos chapter just know that it was me completely spacing it...As most of you know, i lost internet for almost a month, and i couldn't get much internet at the library or anything to stay tuned on what was going on with the fanfic world...so i also lost a lots of what was in my stories...  
**

**Another thing has nothing to do with this story more of Phases, but i'm not making a chapter on that dedicated to an authors note, so i jst thought to have it here...I've been thinking about doing a sorta full story on that not like a chapter per month, like 9 chapters, but more detailed, or at least more into it...i dunno and i found a really good villain and story line for it, and just wanted to see if any of you would read it if i were to go further into that story...  
**

**NEXT i'm thinking about working on Haunted Shadows again since i'm in the mood for that right now... sorry for the long wait on the others...i'll get there i promise, i'm thinking about trying to get on Baby Genius or Fighting til the end (THE HARD ONES!) O.O SORRY FOR THE WAY TOO LONG AUTHORS NOTEGOODBYE!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**As requested, I updated this next! Easy peasy! I must say, i'm getting really excited to get more chapters of this uploaded. It's about to get REAL intense after this chapter, AT least, that's what i'm hoping for. **

**I apologize for all the blood last chapter, PercyJacksonLover14, I should warn you guys about that, but i guess i didn't because i just expect you guys to expect it...anyways, i'm still sorry and there shouldn't be too much blood in this chapter so you know, but yeah, i had to say something.  
**

**Disclaimer: Iron Man Armored Adventures is NOT mine.  
**

Pepper frowned as the time passed and Tony never returned from the bathroom. It was about five minutes since she sat down and more and more seemed to be passing. She was getting impatient. She notice some guy walking over to use the bathroom and she opened her mouth to say hi, just for the heck of it, but nothing came out. By the time she found her voice he was already inside of the bathroom.

She sighed both mentally and physically and waited. She could hear the two talking inside the bathroom, but it was impossible to understand what was being said without the need to press her ear up to the door. Which would make others look at her like she was crazy. So she just continued to waited as she continued to stir the bowl of beads.

Though after a few minutes, she stopped what she was doing almost instantly. He was screaming. She shot up out of her seat as the screaming was suddenly cut off. She didn't even hesitate before bursting through the bathroom door. She didn't even care that it was a men's bathroom, she only cared that she got to Tony.

The man she saw walk in earlier was standing by the garbage which was nearly filled with bloody paper towels. From the looks of it, he was helping Tony with what ever it was he needed help with. She didn't give him a second look and bent down to where Tony lay on the floor passed out. She rolled him over onto his back and her heart nearly broke. He was so pale... He seemed so still...But she knew he wasn't dead because she could feel his breathing under her palms.

As weak as it was, she still got excited to be feeling any breath at all. She actually was surprised because of how pale he was and bloody he was. Well, she guessed it wasn't so bad saying that Tony's had worse, but at least then, he was able to walk on his own, or at least was able to do more than just fall victim to these violent attacks.

She skipped hoping that he was going to be okay or not, and dragged his arm over her head and made sure his body was leaning against hers as she struggled to stand. Sooner or later, the man she saw standing in the corner not doing much, most likely in shock that a girl just rushed into the men's bathroom, came and helped her lift Tony's weight.

"I'll help." He said shortly. "I'm Matt by the way."

"Pepper." She replied just as short.

Together they worked on maneuvering him out of the bathroom. They stumbled a few times before they got the hang of the uneven weight, then they had to ignore the calls of the employee working the stand, who was demanding that they stop and let him call an ambulance. Pepper called back that it wasn't necessary and just kept on moving.

With the help of Matt, the two and the one unconscious boy, finally arrived to the house Pepper directed them. By the time they even reached the sidewalk that lead to the front door of the Rhodes's house, they were panting and almost ready to collapse. At least Pepper was. She didn't even bother to use the energy to see how Matt was doing. She just looked to her knees and took deep breaths determined to get Tony to a bed.

"I can take it from here." She said as she gained some breath.

"Oh, I thought that maybe I'd stick around and see if he woke up fine." Matt said with a nervous, shy tone. "I just thought..."

"Fine, but I swear if you pull any tricks..." She didn't even have to finish. Matt had already set course for the front door of the house they stood in front of.

Before they even reached the door, it opened to reveal Rhodey who was mumbling something. That was, well, before he noticed the three standing just feet away from him. A body standing limp between the other two.

"Oh no..." Rhodey said his voice dry. "Pepper, what happened!? Who's that?"

"Explain in a minute, Rhodey!" Pepper snapped still panting. "Just help get him inside."

Rhodey didn't need to be told twice. He was already on the move to carry Tony easily by himself. He walked inside to silence as how it was when he was about to leave to go check on them. Rhodey tried to stay on the optimistic side, and believe that Tony was okay, but apparently whatever this was that was attacking him, was getting worse. Meaning, it does have a chance at killing him.

He shook his head not wanting to think of what could happen if Tony died. It was just to painful to even imagine. So instead of thinking of just that, he lead the others to the room that was still set up for Tony. Laying him out on his bed, he sighed heavily and left Pepper and Matt to go inform Howard and Roberta of what happened. Or at least what he understood from what he saw.

Howard sat drinking yet another coffee, reading the newspaper that seemed to keep going and going. Roberta was looking for something in the cupboards to make for a late lunch. Rhodey stood there awkwardly not knowing what to say. But they noticed him and was quick to ask him what he was doing and who was at the door.

"Oh..." Rhodey began. "It was Pepper and Tony...and some guy...he was helping Pepper carry Tony...who had another, um, attack."

Rhodey was normally so clear with words, even when something horrible had happened, but now, he just didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to sound clear without sounding too brave to be seen like he didn't care.

Howard was the first one to realize what Rhodey meant by an 'attack'. He stood up immediately and was already headed to the first place he expected Tony to be. Roberta wasn't far behind. Then of course he followed as well and they all crowded into Tony's small rooms. Introductions were made almost immediately as to sooth some peoples worries that this person might not be nice.

Soon enough, it was deemed that Tony wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, so they decided to find a better way to spend their time. Just standing there all crowded in that small room was no fun when no one had the courage to speak. Rhodey and Pepper stayed in the room with the others constantly checking on them. Matt stuck around for another couple of hours after explaining that he was sensitive on the subject. That being helping others and not being able to. He explained that his friend was shot in an armed robbery some years ago and he was helpless to do anything.

He said that he didn't want to see that again even though he hardly knew the kid. At least not on a personal level. He was clear with who it was, but of course he didn't judge the person and immediately decide that he wasn't worth his worry. So he stubbornly stayed until it finally got dark and he had to go, but he insisted on leaving his number and to have them call when Tony wakes up.

Pepper the entire time sat at the end of Tony's bed with her knees up to her chin. Her gaze never left Tony or the floor. Never. Rhodey sat on the computer chair switching from messing around on the computer and watching over Tony, to trying to start a friendly conversation with the ever so silent Pepper. Though she kept her mouth shut except for the occasional murmur directed at Tony.

She ended up falling asleep later that night still at the foot of his bed, but was laid down in a more comfortable position all thanks to Rhodey who despite his best friend's condition, couldn't help but smile at the sight of his two friends.

Rhodey passed out himself in his own room when the time came cause he knew that there was school the next morning. **(A/N I really don't know when their next school day is, but just pretend that its Monday next.) **Howard returned home reluctantly leaving Tony behind. He didn't want to leave his son, really he didn't, he wanted to find a way to help his son, but he knew he couldn't. Not that instant at least.

So sooner or later, the entire team iron man and co., were all asleep.

…

Pepper felt heavy and very groggy. Though she felt very warm. She went to move, but realized her arm was stuck under something. She tiredly opened her eyes to find that her arm was actually buried under Tony's back. She blushed wildly, and softly tugged her arm out from under him. With a tired sigh, she sat up and gasped.

She had school! She looked to where the clock was in the room and just started at the time, her jaw wide open. 12:15 PM. How had she slept in so much!? Why was she still here? Sure her dad was off on a three day mission, but that didn't mean Roberta or Rhodey would have let her sleep in this much. She wouldn't have been surprised if Tony woke up before this. Actually, with the condition he was in, she actually would be a little surprised.

She quickly made her way out of the room, rubbing her eyes. She yawned as she made her way through the empty house. Roberta was at work and Rhodey was at school. She went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, but stopped short when she saw a note written in Roberta's handwriting.

'_Morning Pepper, sorry we let you sleep in, we couldn't wake you and nor did we really want to. You were so exhausted, plus Tony wasn't awake yet and we need someone to keep an eye on him in case he wakes up. -Roberta'_

She blinked. They had even tried to wake her up, and yet she still didn't wake up? At least they tried. She'd just have to get caught up with school the next day. She got herself some water and decided it wasn't a bad idea to get something to eat. So after she got something to eat she went straight back to where Tony was and sat in the same spot she did the previous day.

It was about two o'clock when the door bell rang. With furrowed eyebrows, Pepper debated whether or not it was a good idea to go answer it. As the knocking continued, she decided that it would be easier just to go answer it. So she left the room to go answer the door. Though she just got to the door when she heard a loud thump coming from the room Tony lay in. It was soon followed by the sounds of coughing and not too long later there was his screams again.

Instantly she ignored the person still knocking persistently on her door and ran to where Tony was. He lay on the floor clutching his chest tightly, his eyes squeezed shut, with blood dripping from his nose. Pepper gasped and dropped to her knees beside him. She looked around frantically until she found the box of tissues that lay on the desk next to them. She grabbed it and pulled a few tissues out of the box and started to rub away the blood, then she tried to stop it by just pinching his nose.

Though, when he started to gasp for breath, she stopped seeing that he was breathing through his nose instead of his mouth. She looked at him and his eyes were open, but they were seeing nothing. He wasn't dead, of course, he was moving a bit too much for that. But she could just how much this whole thing scared him. That's why he didn't tell them, sure he might have wanted to see if he could fix it before he told them, but truthfully, maybe it was because he was too scared to tell them because he was honestly terrified of what was happening to him.

She pulled him up onto her lap and tried to get him to relax and sleep, but he laid unresponsive to her words, as he whimpered and occasionally choked or screamed. It broke her heart to see him like this. So she just kept holding on until his back arched and he lost all consciousness. She couldn't help but sigh in relief. At least when he was unconscious, he wasn't feeling any pain.

There was a violent crash as the sound of a door bursting open, that brought Pepper clean out of her thoughts. She didn't want to deal with a robbery, if that was what that was. Unless it was the police, but why would they smash down the door? Maybe it was because she didn't answer the door. Could it be someone who knows Tony's identity? Her questions were cut short when a figure stood in the doorway.

"Good evening, my sweet Patricia."

…

Rhodey jumped as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He scowled as he realized he forgot to turn it off. He waited for the teacher to turn around and scold him, but the teacher stayed concentrated on the screen. They were watching a historic movie, one that was in Rhodey's interests.

Making sure no one was looking he slipped his phone out of his pocket to see who was texted him. Once he got it out he found it was from Pepper and that worried him. She knew he was at school. It was monday, and his mom left a note...

He read her text that read simply:

:(

That was it. It was just a face. He took a moment to wonder what on earth she was trying to tell him, but he couldn't for the life of him, figure it out. So he texted back.

_What? Is something wrong?_

He put the phone back in his pocket and after about ten minutes, she responded.

_:S_

Another face. What on earth was Pepper up to? Was she in trouble and needed help? No, she would have called Roberta or something. She knew he couldn't answer. Well, he did text, but he still couldn't talk...

_Pepper, seriously, whats the matter?_

He was getting really nervous and the next time he looked to his phone it said 'message didn't send'. What? That was it. He stood up walked to the teacher and requested to go to the nurse. The teacher nodded, seeming as if he was in his own world, and Rhodey didn't care what the answer was anyway, he just wanted to go see what on earth Pepper was texting him about.

He didn't know what, but something didn't feel right, and he had a strong feeling that something happened back at home...

…

Rhodey gasped as he saw that the door was busted down. He ran to the house and walked inside the seemingly empty home. He frowned as he heard nothing but the ticking of the clock on the wall. He ventured further into his home and finally found himself in Tony's old room. It was empty. All that was left was a few bloody tissues, a few blood spots either on the bed or the floor.

He immediately pulled out his phone and dialed the emergency number Howard gave him that would go directly to him and not through his company. Luckily, Howard replied on the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Howard, it's Tony." Rhodey said urgently. "Pepper as well. They're gone..."

"What!?" Was Howard's reply.

"I was at school and Pepper kept texting me, but she only sent me a facial expressions. One sad, and one kind of sick." Rhodey said quickly.

"Hold on I'll be right there. You're at the house right?"

Rhodey was about to reply when suddenly he felt as if he was frozen solid. Not cold, but just stuck. He could hear Howard asking for a reply and asking if anyone was there, but he couldn't speak.

"_A score for me,_" A voice whispered in his ear.

**ITS STARTING! Sorry, I got all excited when i found out the perfect time to 'start' this story, (if you know what i mean...) So yay! The next chapter will most likely be short, because it might just be Howard and Roberta and a _bit _on the others, but other than that, we're up and running! **

**Also, I'd like to say one thing, before i wrote that they got 'taken' in the park...well, they were supposed to, but i found a good twist i could take and took that road instead because i thought it was better...so forget what i said about the park...  
**

**Well, i'm going to take a pause from updating, and i'm going to try to get a short/long ons-shot up, that I thought up today in the middle of Math. :) BYE  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well yay i've updated! I'm actually glad i could get this one off of my chest. This chapter, i'll admit, was incredibly boring to write! I had to try and drag it out so it would at least reach a thousand words, which i failed at by 6 words...which i let pass. Its just 6 words. Anyways, sorry it's so short. I normally like to do longer chapters, but, eh, it didn't work well this time around...**

**I want to say THANK YOU for all the reviews, for this story and my other stories. It really means a lot to me, and it really makes my day to read what you guys have to say about my writing, so THANK YOU!  
**

**Disclaimer: IMAA is not mine no matter how much i wish it was.  
**

Howard called Roberta who was off doing a case, and told her of what had happened. With a sigh, she agreed to meet up at her house after her case which was in an hour, but Howard didn't want to wait, because Rhodey said something about Tony and Pepper being gone, and that Pepper was sending him odd messages. He was a bit too curious to what had happened.

So he went on ahead, not waiting for Roberta to finish up work. When he got there the door was broken and one of the door's hinges were broke, so it was almost hanging off of the wall. Now he knew something was up. But what?

He ventured farther into the home cautiously as if the danger was still there. The first place he left to, was where his son's room used to be. To where he last known for him to be in. Though, when he got there, Tony nor Pepper were to be seen. There was some bloody on the carpet and tissues. He also spotted a phone that belonged to none other than Rhodey.

He bent over to pick up the phone to find it was still on talk as if it was still trying to reach his own phone, which he had hung up long ago, so the dial tone was beeping loudly. He hung it up before feeling a cold chill and a sense of dread. He then made his way out of the room that seemed so empty and cold, to search the rest of the house to see if anything else was out of whack.

When he didn't find anything he decided he'd wait for Roberta to get home. Which, when he looked at his watch, it wasn't very long. She would be there with him to figure it all out soon. So he sat at the couch having trouble reading through a magazine Roberta had laying around.

All was quiet and silent, and oh so peaceful for the time being. Well, that is, until there was a disorienting popping sound and a suffocating fog filled the room. He didn't even have time to react to what ever it was, he hardly had time to stand, but when he did...he fell towards the ground limply.

…

Roberta was shocked to find her door busted open. At first she had thought that maybe Howard was there and couldn't get in, so he decided to break the door. Which was odd, since he did have a key...but she didn't pay any more attention to the door as she traveled through the house.

She passed the living room, she peeked in the kitchen, she stopped at Rhodey's room, and last but not least, she ended up at Tony's old room. Where she had left Pepper and Tony in that morning. Now nothing lay there, except for crumpled blankets, that were actually half way off of the bed. She took notice to the tissues and blood on the carpet, but decided there was much more worrisome things going on beside a stain in the ground.

She almost saw that Rhodey's phone was on the desk across from the bed. She picked it up and looked through the recent calls. Howard was the latest, then it went backwards as Tony, Pepper, Pepper, Tony, herself, Tony, Pepper, and so on. Most of those going into the day before.

Setting down the phone she pulled out her own phone and dialed Howard's number. She frowned as she found no answer. She tried it again, to the same result. Then she tried to call Pepper, with no luck, then Tony. Again she had no luck. Now she was worried. They normally answered their phones. Well, Rhodey did. Howard tried, Pepper was _always _on the phone, so it was always busy, and Tony just never answered his phone in general.

She sighed as she sat down on her couch. She was starting to debate whether or not she should call the police. She had to call someone. Maybe they went to the doctor. Tony did have an appointment. But wasn't that the next day? And what about the stuff Howard told you about? That Rhodey had called him telling him that Tony and Pepper were just gone, leaving behind nothing but evidence to another attack.

Honestly, she didn't know what to do. First she finds out Tony, who's like a son to her, is sick, and very sick at that. Then she finds out that some crazy psycho appears to be stalking Tony. Now she finds out that everyone has gone missing except for her. Which, she should be happy for that. She should be relieved that she wasn't there.

But now, she felt guilty. They were probably tied up in some dark room being questioned by a psycho. For all she knew, they could be in the process of being tortured and she may never know, for she might not see them again. She didn't have a clue where they could be. She couldn't find any clues or evidence that someone kidnapped them in the first place.

She suddenly felt sick to the stomach. She shouldn't be sitting here doing nothing. She should be looking for more clues. She should be doing her best to find clues. She should be doing something. Then she looked over. She saw the magazine she had bought just recently. It was on the floor. She didn't even remember bringing it into the living room. At least to this area of the living room.

She went to pick it up off the ground, but she was stopped when she suddenly couldn't move. Her legs wouldn't move so she could stand, her arms sat frozen stretching in mid air, not moving. She suddenly felt that same cold feeling and she really felt sick to the stomach now.

"_Join us_." A voice whispered as if through a tunnel. "_We'll have fun together_."

**Well, i feel better about it being short and _very _uninteresting, since i can finally and officially move on. Like a new first chapter, which really it isn't, i'm just saying, it seemed like i'd never make it this far into this story. I thought, it'd take me much longer just to finish this part of the story. AND i'm happy that i actually made it! So yay! **

**Anyways, i really have nothing else to say, but I'm going to leave a little tid bit about myself, since, well, i told you guys i'd be doing that in one of my other stories and someone actually did give me the thumbs up for that one. So heres another (or the first for some of you) tid bit about myself:**

_"I have a strange habit or obsession with touching soft skin." **Weird, huh? Yeah, i know some of you are like everyone loves soft skin, but seriously if my friend would let me I'd hold her hand all day just petting it, because she has the softest hands ever! Heehee :) **_

**Well, bye for now, and also, if you have any requests for stories you think i'd do good at, well, i'm accepting them because i need something to write, when i'm stuck or not in the mood to update my other stories. So if you haven't already requested it to someone else, I'd be happy to give it a good shot!**


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